The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-05-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Notes on the Lesson for May 20
1.-THE Red Sea-"

| From the Chicago Standard. BY Rev. j. NJ.
Coon.
The lesson for the above date may be found
in Exodus xiv 1881. The time included was
in l49l b. c., spring of the year. Place, the
Red Sea.
SPECIAL MENTION
The pillar Of ctoud and tire. The fire was
| the same as the Shekinah, the jewish theo-
| logical term for "the glory of God" mani
tested over the mercy-seat between the
| cherubim tEx. xL 35). 1t Is in cloud that
| God Is represented as leading His people and
protecting them from terror, calamity, the
heat OF the day, sunstrcke, pestilence Out
of cloud He spake to Moses, and, amid thun-
der and lightning, to the nation itself His
| fire Is represented as Lighting up their path
by night, and defending them from unseen
dangers; from 1t He terrihes the enemies of
Israel He threatens those who muir
muir against him and sends the devouring
flame which consumes those who are rebel
lious. (Harper). Such guiding signals were
used by the anclents, according TO the testi-
mony OF historians. Passages are quoted
from the classical writers which show that
the Persians and Greeks used fire and smoke
as signals in their marches Alexander gave
the signal for departure by fire on tall
pole over his tent Vegetius and Frontinus
mention it a general custom, especially
among the Arabians The success OF some
important expeditions, as of Thrasybulus
and Timoleon, was attributed by popular
superstition TO to a divine light guiding
the leaders. To these well-known instances
may be added two of peculiar interest as
the contemporaries of Moses In an in
scripuon Of the ancient empire an Egyptian
! general is compared 60 "a flame streaming in
advance of an army Thus, too, in a well
known papyrus, the commander of an expedi-
ton Is called a flame IN the darkness at the
head of his soldiers. BY this sign, then, of a
| pillar of cloud the Lord showed himself as
their leader and general" Speakers Conn.,
As TO the spiritual significance OF this super
natural column, Kurtz describes il as q "pillar
of cloud and fire, which did not ascend from
earth, but came down from heaven. In this
he dwelt; it rose and fell according
| TO circumstances; it sometimes spread itself
out, and at other times was closely
! condensed; at one time it went before the
procession; at another it hung suspend
| ed over IT, and again 1t settled be-
hind IT. spreading impenetrable darkness on
the one side, and lighting up the darkness Of
the night on the other" According to Murphy:
| Fire, in Its various forms of flame, light,
heat, and electric flash, is striking emblem
of the great Spirit, and the smoke or vapor
! which accompanies it is manifest type of the
! phenomena which surround and conceal the
| essence, while at the same time they indicate
the presence of the mighty potentate, the pill
lar that balances itself in mid-air, unsupported
| by the earth and mistaken by the winds of
! heaven, serves well to mark the presence OF
| Him who is independent of the laws of nature.
Anu AdStly, pllldI VI nlt ClOuu 10
ifestly not the Lord, nor figure of the Lord,
but the visible and real sign of His actual
! presence among His people for their guidance.
! protection, and comfort"
The l0dU Of 1odterS According to some
! literal perpendicular wall or preciplce OF water
was piled upon each side, but the narrative
! demands no such violent hypothesis. The LAM
! guage Is poetical and though II is said (Ex. 49,
! 8; Ps. IS: ~ that they stood as heap" it is
| also said that they were "congeaed in the
| haa ri NJ tho - and lika nf tho
| peaks of Horeb, that they skipped like rams,
and the little hills like lambs. (Ps IA: A. 1t
is better, therefore, TO take the word wall in the
| sense of defense or protection on either side.
| (For a similar use Of the term see Nahum 81
! s. tHarper) Robinson computes as follows:
! IF the part left dry were broad enough TO
! enable them 10 cross in body one thousand
| abreast, which would require space of moro
than half mile in breadth, still the column
| would be more than two thousand deep, and in
| all probability could not have extended less
than two miles 1t would have occupied at
! least an hour in passing over its own length,
| or III entering the sea; and deductlng this from
| the longest time intervening before the Egyp-
tians also have entered the sea, there will re-
main only time enough for the Israelites to
have passed, at the most, over space of three
| or four miles
the Red Sea. This body of water, an
GENTLY known as the Arabian Gulf, lies be-
ween Africa and Asia, separating Egypt
Nubia, and Abyssinia in the former. from
| Arabia in the latter. Various explanations of
| its name are given, which may be classified
under tlfe two heads of the appearance of the
sea itself, and the name of the people living in
the surrounding country. 1t is said 10 present
| a reddish appearance from different causes at
different tlmes-lrom animalcule, sediment,
or coral reefs. The ancient name of the sur
| rounding country was EdOm, which means
red Esau received his name because of
| the redness of his skin at BIRTH and was
called Edom afterward because he sold his
birthright for red pottage Pliny,
Strabo and others thought the Red Sea re-
ceived its name from an Arabian monarch,
| Erythrus, which is the Greek for red 1t ex-
tends from the Straits of Bah El-Mendeb in
a extraordinarily direction, about |, 23)
| miles. The average width OF the main body
is about 40 miles, its greatest width 200 miles
! Groups of small islands and coral reefs
stretch out from either shore, in some places
| forty or fifty miles. At the northern end the
peninsula of Sinai divides it into two gulfs
Suez and Akabeh. The Gulf of Suez the
| westernmost is the proper continuation
of the sea- is about 100 miles in length
and has an average width of some eighteen
miles Akabeh is only about ninety miles long
and twelve wide 1t lies in a narrow valley
with lofty and PERCEPTIONS mountains on either
hand The valley continues northward to
the Dead Sea- The depth of the water in the
latter is about eco feet, in the former l2j feet
In the central portion of the sea proper there
is depression of from five TO ten miles in
| Nlulu NItIt lile utDIu lDCItdSer, us you near
the straights, from 200 TO 5000 feet Near
the outlet shoal extends across, only 240 feet
below the surface" (The EIdniner)
The ancient chariot the Egyptian chariot
was framework of wood nearly sem-cir-
cular in front, having straight Sides and open
behind. The front was of wood, and the sides
were strengthened and ornamented with leath-
or and metal bindings. The floor was of rope
network, to give springy footing. The fit
tings of the inside and the harness were of
raw-hide or tanned leather On the sides
quivers and bow-cases were fastened crossing
each other. The wheels were low, had six
spokes, and we're kept on the axle by a leather
thong or linchpin. There was no seat in the
chariot The number OF horses TO each char
lot was two The chariot Of the king did not
differ materially from ordinary war-chariots.
He, however, usually rode alone into battle,
having the reins fastened around his waist,
leaving both hands free TO manage his weapons
OF war. Jehu seems TO have initiated the Gus
tom Of Egyptian monarchs in driving his own
chariot (See Kings q: 20)" Frceman.)
sEED-TRUTHs AND GERM-THoUGHTs.
/. God adapting himself TO his people,
perlls and needs ". l9.
= Spiritual character is an essential condi-
ton to understanding spiritual things ". POI.
3 Persons may be very near together and
| VAT 1fnaIl foI fx,